When it came time for CSHQA, an award-winning, full-service architecture and engineering firm, to move office locations, they didn’t need to look far. The 20,000-square-foot warehouse was not only a mere three blocks away, its renovation would be an ideal demonstration piece to show existing and potential clients how a building can be updated without changing its historic nature and while respecting the surrounding area architecturally.
Built in 1959, the building was originally used as storage for the rail lines that once ran along Front Street adjacent to the building. The interior space, although smaller, occupies only one floor—unlike the three floors in their previous location—allowing for closer collaboration of employees. The interior design philosophy was to expose the original wood ceiling composed of 10x26 solid timber beams and joists, and and to add 14 new skylights to create uniform interior light levels and reduce energy use. The existing interior columns, 10” diameter concrete, were refurbished and many were left exposed. In keeping with the vintage feel, reclaimed timber was used for some of the interior woodwork as well as frames for artwork.
In addition, the design takes into account several building efficiencies, including the connection to the city’s geothermal system for radiant floor heating throughout the space. The same radiant system is used to cool the space in the summer. Other sustainability upgrades include extensive daylight harvesting with integrated automated lighting and dimming systems, the use of LED fixtures, sustainable landscaping and on-site storm water management, low-use water fixtures, covered bicycle storage, and preferred parking for fuel-efficient vehicles. The building is targeting LEED Platinum and Green Globes certifications. If achieved, the CSHQA office will be the first LEED Platinum office renovation in Idaho.
CHALLENGE
Find an exterior technology that understood the design and aesthetic goals while also contributing to the building’s LEED Platinum certification.SOLUTION
The Illumination Series Panels, in a custom cool white color, and Smooth NichiBoard to ensure a clean, flawless exterior look.RESULT
The Nichiha panels provided the client design flexibility to modernize the historic building and the first large-scale use of fiber cement panels in the area.
Like many urban areas, Boise is seeing quite a bit of transition in its downtown core. Amidst the tear-downs and new structures, this warehouse renovation was a chance for CSHQA to showcase something new out of something old. With that in mind, the team specified Nichiha’s Illumination Series panels and Smooth NichiBoard to ensure a clean, flawless look on the exterior. The building called for a specific color match, a cool white, to match the sheet metal coping at the top of the new walls.
Another selling point: a built-in ventilated rainscreen system, unique to Nichiha panels, that eliminates the threat of trapped moisture.
“One of the many goals of the building renovation was to explore different technologies and showcase them within and on the building,” says Ted Isbell, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, a senior associate at CSHQA. “We looked at several exterior wall cladding systems, including metal, wood, ACP panels, phenolic resin panels, and fiber cement. Nichiha worked with us to understand our goals.”
Nichiha panels on the CSHQA warehouse were the first large-scale use of fiber cement panels in the Boise area. The panels provided flexibility to work with different design decisions, while modernizing the historic building.
“It completely changed the look of the building,” said Mandie Brozo, project manager at CSHQA, noting that the clean look of the panels has attracted the attention of the real estate community. “Before the renovation, the building was anonymous, no one ever remembered it, and now people are noticing; it’s like a new building.”
For more information about Illumination and other Nichiha products, please visit: www.nichiha.com.
Architect: CSHQA
Location: Boise, Idaho
Project type: Historic remodel
Product: Illumination Series
Project features:
- Smooth, satin finish
- Virtually limitless color palette
- Easy installation
- Low maintenance
- 40% recycled content
Related Stories
| Oct 24, 2014
Herzog & de Meuron reveals plans for redesign of Roche pharmaceutical campus in Germany
The project includes the addition of a 205-meter-high tower and research center, as well as the renovation of an historic office building designed by Swiss architect Otto R. Salvisber.
Sponsored | | Oct 23, 2014
From slots to public safety: Abandoned Detroit casino transformed into LEED-certified public safety headquarters
First constructed as an office for the Internal Revenue Service, the city's new public safety headquarters had more recently served as a temporary home for the MGM Casino. SPONSORED CONTENT
| Oct 23, 2014
China's 'weird' buildings: President Xi Jinping wants no more of them
During a literary symposium in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged architects, authors, actors, and other artists to produce work with "artistic and moral value."
| Oct 22, 2014
Customization is the key in tomorrow's workplace
The importance of mobility, flexibility, and sustainability in the world of corporate design are already well-established. A newer trend that’s gaining deserved attention is customizability, and how it will look in the coming years, writes GS&P's Leith Oatman.
| Oct 16, 2014
Perkins+Will white paper examines alternatives to flame retardant building materials
The white paper includes a list of 193 flame retardants, including 29 discovered in building and household products, 50 found in the indoor environment, and 33 in human blood, milk, and tissues.
| Oct 15, 2014
Harvard launches ‘design-centric’ center for green buildings and cities
The impetus behind Harvard's Center for Green Buildings and Cities is what the design school’s dean, Mohsen Mostafavi, describes as a “rapidly urbanizing global economy,” in which cities are building new structures “on a massive scale.”
| Oct 14, 2014
Proven 6-step approach to treating historic windows
This course provides step-by-step prescriptive advice to architects, engineers, and contractors on when it makes sense to repair or rehabilitate existing windows, and when they should advise their building owner clients to consider replacement.
| Oct 13, 2014
The mindful workplace: How employees can manage stress at the office
I have spent the last several months writing about healthy workplaces. My research lately has focused on stress—how we get stressed and ways to manage it through meditation and other mindful practices, writes HOK's Leigh Stringer.
Sponsored | | Oct 13, 2014
CLT, glulam deliver strength, low profile, and aesthetics for B.C. office building
When he set out to design his company’s new headquarters building on Lakeshore Road in scenic Kelowna, B.C., Tim McLennan of Faction Projects knew quickly that cross-laminated timber was an ideal material.
| Oct 12, 2014
AIA 2030 commitment: Five years on, are we any closer to net-zero?
This year marks the fifth anniversary of the American Institute of Architects’ effort to have architecture firms voluntarily pledge net-zero energy design for all their buildings by 2030.
